We've decorated the tree and made a snowman...Lego that is.

A very big Merry Christmas from us to you!

All ready for one lovely little boy to discover on Christmas Morning.

Introducing Baby Honesty Elisabeth

Lucas, Addy and baby Honesty

Proud boy holding his newest baby cousin! Sooooo sweet!

Spooooooky!

Hand designed by a crazy 6 year old.

The first one's done! :)

Happiest kid on the block!

When they learn to spell....

Peace lovin' pirate.

Adams Orchard...we missed pick-your-own apples, but we didn't miss the donuts. :)

Happy Birthday Indy!!

Snow on Church Street on a very rainy Friday...

If it Can Happen to Him, it Will

Lucas is three weeks in to first grade and he's covered in chickenpox. Due to my stellar parenting skills I had no idea that he'd managed to contract the dreaded chickenpox somewhere in those first few days of school. I thought he'd just played in a mega-nest of mosquitoes...turns out that you can indeed get the chickenpox even though you've had the varicella vaccine. Things they never tell you at the pediatrician's office while they're pedaling shots to unsuspecting mamas, I suppose. Apparently 15-20% of children who get vaccinated also still get chickenpox. It stands to reason then that Lucas would get it...funky skin kid that he is. And I still sent him to school. Because I'm mean...or maybe because his "contagious" days were long past by the time I realized my mother told me he had chickenpox...not dozens of bug bites. The news that they will be a milder case then they would have been without the vaccine appears to be pure fiction. Poor little nugget.

Toothless!!

First Day of First Grade!

My first grader. The days are long but the years are short...isn't that the saying? It couldn't be more true. Love this kid.

A Most Awesome Tuesday

Happy Easter!

And a Easter smooch for you!

Waiting to Be Discovered...

'Cause Nothing Says Happy Easter Like a Clone Trooper

6

This poor, shy wallflower of a boy turned 6 on Monday. On Sunday he celebrated the occasion with 25 of his closest friends and classmates, all their parents, and a fair number of siblings. It was barely controlled chaos, and the best birthday he's ever had. He has chosen some really rad buddies, and they all made for a super special day. Also, we now have more Legos then Toys R Us and my thumbs are sore.

Snowglobe...Extra Shaken

A snowstorm worthy of a snow day from kindergarten's daily grind and Lucas was already home on school break. Being snowed in is the best excuse to hole up with your favorite 5 year old and be lazy lazy lazy. And that's just what we did. There's a spot in the new couch that still has my imprint from having never left it yesterday.

The Cuteness, It Kills Me

My boy will often put himself to bed much earlier than I would like. If that sentence sounds odd to you it's because it's odd. Most five (almost 6!) year olds fight the bedtime routine, or so I'm told. But my boy? Well, he loves himself a good night's sleep, and more often than not 7:30pm finds him out cold in bed, covers already kicked off. So tonight when he started begging to be put to bed at 6:45pm, I wasn't in any hurry to get him up there because I knew what would follow...an hour of "Mom!"s. Read me a book! Tuck me back in! Can I watch TV? I need a drink! I have to peeeeee! Gah.

A zillion requests later and I'm losing my patience. Until I hear...wait for it...wait for it...it'll be worth it, I promise...

Mama? I just wanna see your beautiful face one more time before I fall asleeeeeeep.

Oh my. And if that RIGHT THERE doesn't melt your heart, then you my friend, are made of STONE. I love that boy. And he is not dramatic at all, no sir.

2010 Has Been Kinda Rough on Us...in a Wimpy Sort of Way

So, I made it all the way to 500 posts on this blog and then sort of gave up. The last month has been crazy fast what with the throwing out my back, and then Luke's latest double ear infection, and then I shut my finger in the car door and it is just NOT RIGHT anymore, and the 48hr cold that kicked my booty, and then of course there's this crazy low cough/throat clearing thing I've had since last November that will not go away and MAN, 2010...ENOUGH!

Add that to working full time nights and volunteering in Luke's classroom during the day, and blog? What Blog? Besides...no one likes a complainer. Ugh.

ANYWAY, it's a new day! We spent the night making valentines for the 22 kids in his class. He wrote his name on every one, bless his heart! Some of the ICU nurses where I work have a community service program called Love Your Heart where they go to kindergarten/first grade classrooms and teach kids about making healthy choices in food and exercise. Each child in the class got to listen to their heartbeats at rest and after jumping jacks with Doppler's and stethoscopes. I asked Luke's teacher if they could do their presentation in his class in conjunction with Valentine's Day (Hearts!) I have some amazing pictures of it and the kids had a blast. I'll have to weed through them all and pick a few without any other sweet little faces in them but Luke's.

And now off to tackle that impossibly large pile of laundry in my basement. I clearly couldn't do any laundry with a bad back, a miserable cold or a bum finger...so you can imagine how much it's piled up.

Sleeping in his Cardboard House

Hopefully not indicative of his future living arrangements. He got to have a little male bonding time with a friend's husband while we ladies caught a late movie. Apparently hours of xBox and Wii while tucker you out far too much to climb the stairs to your own comfy bed.

32.9

That's how many inches of snow have fallen here in the last 24 hours.

It's 4am, I just got home from work, and my roads have clearly not been plowed all day. The snow is waist deep in places. Should be fun to shovel out in the morning.